his psychosis. He is still an informant for Franklin, although this arrangement is imperilled when Paul Carvalho, (the Portuguese politician whom Tommy had set up for bribery charges in Season 2) agrees to talk to the authorities and Jack Boyle arranges Freddie’s release from prison. Michael knows that Freddie will contract Nozzolli to kill him, so he attempts to remove Nozolli by implicating him in a deal to sell HGH supplied by a local dentist, and then exposing the scheme to Franklin. The DEA have been watching the dentist for months and swoop first. Franklin does not care that Michael’s plan has failed, and mocks him. Michael beats him to death. Tommy is still majority leader, although his unsuccessful attempt at capturing the speakership has forced him to become Speaker Donatello's errand boy. This brings him into contact with Brian Kilpatrick, a developer who wants the state to buy decrepit industrial property on the city's waterfront. Eileen, now pregnant, is consequently finding her new duties at Social Services difficult. Tommy wants to quit politics and promises Eileen that they will leave The Hill within two years. The episode concludes with a meeting between Tommy, Kilpatrick and the president of Bodie Company, with Tommy telling the president that he will get a lucrative stake in the waterfront if he buys all of the holdings of Tommy's Landowne development company. End On April 7, 2009, rumors began circulating that the show had been canceled. In January, Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's entertainment president, was reportedly non-committal when asked if Brotherhood would be back. In an interview with E! online in mid-March 2009, actress Fionnula Flanagan said that the actors had yet to hear from the producers about the fourth season. Also, the Hollywood Reporter has reported that Jason Clarke had been cast in an unnamed pilot for CBS. Kevin Chapman, who plays Freddie, is now cast as Terrence Garrity, brother of the Sean character in the FX series Rescue Me. Television critics also pointed to the end of season three as potentially the end of the series, saying that the finale seemed to convey a sense of closure, wrapping up storylines. On June 29, 2009, Showtime confirmed that the series would not be renewed, and that the third season DVD would be billed as "The Final Season." American satellite television provider DirecTV rebroadcast the series beginning in February 2010. Themes The series focuses on